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Tennessee coach Rick Barnes named one of four coaches to watch for Coach of the Year award
By Adam Spencer
Published:
The Tennessee Volunteers were picked to finish 13th in the SEC this year, but as the regular season winds down, they find themselves in second place.
Even though the Vols’ roster isn’t loaded with stars, they’ve become one of the best teams in the conference, and that’s thanks in large part to coach Rick Barnes.
Barnes is starting to draw some attention for his great coaching job, as Sports Illustrated recently named him one of four coaches to watch for the Coach of the Year award:
Barnes has led a rotation with zero former top-140 recruits, according to the 247Sports Composite, to a 9-4 record in the SEC, and Tuesday’s win over South Carolina was the Volunteers’ seventh victory in their last eight games. During league play, Barnes has his guys playing efficient—albeit slow—offensive basketball. Tennessee is scoring more points per possession than all but one other team in the conference.
Barnes still has some work to do if he wants to take home the award, as the Vols have to execute down the stretch.
However, if Tennessee enters the NCAA Tournament with a No. 2 seed (or even a No. 1 seed), he will be one of the top candidates for the Coach of the Year award.
Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.
